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COBB COUNTY, Ga. (FOX 5 Atlanta) - Cobb County police have released store surveillance video and body camera video of that heated confrontation inside a Publix. The video shows an altercation between a customer named Eric Sparkes and state Rep. Erica Thomas.
Sparkes said he was upset when he saw Rep. Thomas in the express checkout lane with too many items.
"I walked up to her and pointed to the express sign and said, 'Ma'am, not to be rude, but you understand this is the express line?'" Sparkes told FOX 5 News.
Rep. Thomas, who was with her young daughter in line, told FOX 5 News, "I told him, 'Sir, I'm sorry. I'm nine months pregnant. I can't stand very long.'"
The heated exchange got fierier after that. In a press conference a couple of days after the incident, Rep. Thomas said Sparkes verbally attacked her and told her to "Go back to where you came from."
"'Go back where you came from,' he said it right after he said 'I know you people, you're ignorant,'" said Rep. Thomas.
In body cam video from police, Sparkes admits calling her a "lazy b----," but denies saying anything worse than that.
"She's playing the victim politically because she's a politician saying I told her to 'go back where she came from' with all this Trump stuff. I didn't say that," Sparkes was heard telling the officer.
The body cam video also shows an interview between an officer and a witness who corroborates Sparkes' story.
"She said, 'You can go back to where you came from' and pointed out the door," said the witness.
The officer asks, "That's what he said to her?"
The witness replies "No, she said that to him."
Rep. Thomas' attorney questions the thoroughness of the investigation.
"My question is why law enforcement didn't interview the person behind my client, her daughter, the bagging lady, all those in the vicinity where the statement was made. We're very concerned about what was investigated, how thorough the investigation was, and we're going to take all appropriate steps moving forward," said attorney Gerald Griggs.
Cobb County Police have said there will be no charges in this case. Both sides have said they may pursue legal action.